


Ashen Starfall

by mymhilda



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: AU where the Ashen Wolves have their own route, Dancing, Fluff, Gender-Neutral My Unit | Byleth, Light Spoilers for Post-Timeskip, Love Confessions, Other, Reunions, Yurileth Week (Fire Emblem), imagine them however you want!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:15:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24294943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mymhilda/pseuds/mymhilda
Summary: Five years later, Byleth finds Yuri awaiting them at the top of the Goddess Tower.
Relationships: Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc & My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	Ashen Starfall

Five years. Five _years._

That was how long that man said they'd been gone.

The battle—they remember seeing Rhea. They moved without thinking. Then the next moment...they were here.

Climbing up the Goddess Tower, Byleth recollects what they know.

They're the professor of the Ashen Wolves house; a house that was only recently added as an official branch of the monastery.

Though primarily for the Abyssians, the house was the only one to inherently accept students from any part of Fódlan, and beyond it; though it was very situational when they did.

It was...confusing, that was for sure, but with a professor like Byleth, the students were eager to learn.  
  


Then, Edelgard started a war.

They remember the blood. The screams. Taking a shaky breath, they continue to climb. Can't get distracted.They had to be here. _He_ had to be here. He promised on this day, five years ago.

 _“What say you we make a little promise?" he suggested. "On this day, five years from now, let's all meet up right here.”_ _  
_  
What an unfortunately strategic move it was, Byleth thinks. So long as their students didn’t—  
  
...Their pace quickens. Before coming to the monastery, they wouldn’t have thought twice about the lives of students. To them, no one mattered except their father.  
  
But now...imagining one of their students falling during that battle—it makes their blood run cold. They can’t feel their heartbeat; they’ve never had one. But at times like these, they know they would have felt it drumming loudly in their chest.  
  
Finally at the top now, they see him. They see Yuri, and they can’t help the instant relief. Thank goodness he was alive.  
  
Perking up to the sound of footsteps, Yuri whips his head around, hand on his blade. But when he sees Byleth...the shock is visible in his expression. For a moment, he stands still, unsure of what to make of them.  
  
Byleth takes another step forward. The trickster remained quiet. They see him swallow, hands shaking slightly at his sides.  
  
“Where did– how did– _why_ are you here?” It’s not the question he wanted to ask, they can see it on his face. Even now, he’s probably still collecting his thoughts.  
  
Byleth takes a deep breath. “I don’t know. How I didn’t die, I…cannot fathom it. But I am here now.”  
  
They assume Sothis, but where did she go? Byleth didn’t know. He didn’t hear her voice anymore.  
...It felt wrong to not hear it.  
  
Climbing to the top, the moon is in full view. Illuminating itself on Yuri’s face, he looks...beautiful. More mature than he did all those years ago.  
  
Everything is silent for a moment as he steps forward. Placing a hand on Byleth’s face, the professor feels him freeze.  
  
“You… You’re real. Heh...this is probably absurd, but for a moment, I nearly thought you a ghost.”  
  
They can’t fault him for that. Five _years_ is a long time to go with absolutely no knowledge on where a person went.  
  
“I won’t leave you again. I promise you.”  
  
With those words, Yuri wraps his arms around them to pull them closer. He’s shaking… “All this time. All this time I looked. I searched _everywhere_ , I… I couldn’t find you.”  
  
There’s a pause, and Byleth takes that as their chance to wrap their own arms around him. “I nearly wrote you down in my notebook. So many nights I searched, only to come up with nothing every damn time. I thought you were _dead._ But I always held on to some stupidly small shred of hope.”  
  
His grip becomes tighter, as if when he lets go, Byleth will be gone again. At this, Byleth returns the gesture, assuring him silently that that isn’t the case. “I’m...glad I didn’t end up in your notebook.”  
  
There’s a faint laugh. “Me too.”  
  
A slight pause, and Yuri pulls away a bit. Byleth thinks he’s about to let go entirely, but instead he places a hand on their hip, the other going to hold their hand. “Yuri—?”  
  
Gently, he shushes them. “Let me do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, friend.”  
  
He begins leading them in a dance. It’s quiet, and calm, and Byleth finds they can’t tear themselves away from his eyes. He looks like he’s debating something. The professor is about to ask what was wrong, but before they can, he’s humming.  
  
During choir, he never sang. In fact, Byleth remembers a time where he was confronted for that by one of the nuns.  
  
“ _I just don’t like singing_ ,” he said. It always stuck out to them, for some reason. They hadn’t taken the male to be afraid of anything—much less singing. Yet here he was, humming for them. Something about that fact made Byleth feel proud.  
  
...This song. “Isn’t this...what they played at the ball?”  
  
For a moment, he stops to stare at them. “...Yeah. I...really regret that night. I wanted it to be more than it was.”  
  
“How do you mean?”  
  
The trickster gives a quiet, almost shy laugh. “Well…”  
  


* * *

  
  
That night, he’d finally decided to work up the courage to ask Byleth to dance. It wasn’t as if he was afraid they’d turn him down—actually, it was quite the opposite. He was afraid they’d say yes.  
  
Emotions were scary. The professor was someone he felt he could trust at that point, he’d say that without a doubt; but that wasn’t what scared him the most. What scared him the most was _love._ The damn fool went and fell in _love_ with them.  
  
He’d thought it was going to be a phase; something that just welled up in him for a bit before it left.  
  
Needless to say, it didn’t. It kept welling, to the point where he’d be nervous to ask them to dance. _Him,_ who flirts so openly.  
  
He felt pathetic. But here he was, night of the ball—and there they were, gorgeous as ever. Feeling his mouth go dry, Yuri finally musters up the courage to go to them.  
  
“Friend—”  
  
“Hey, pals!” And just like that, Balthus rushed in, with the absolute worst timing. Great. “You enjoying the ball?”  
  
_Well, I was about to, but_ — “Sure, sure. It’s just a dance. Nothing special.”  
  
Constance follows behind him, a displeased expression on her features. “Balthus! I believe our dear Yuri was just about to—”  
  
“No, no, I wasn’t about to do _anything_ , Shady Lady.” That girl was more perceptive than she seemed. And suddenly, with his friends showing up, he finds a convenient excuse to get out of asking them to dance.  
  
“Yuri, are you certain? Balthus and I can dance ourselves, and Hapi is getting us snacks. There is no need to stop on our behalf.”  
  
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “What was there to stop? I wasn’t doing anything in the first place.”  
  
“Yuri…”  
  
“I mean it. You said Hapi was getting snacks?”  
  
Balthus probably realized at that point that he interrupted, but it isn’t as if he could bring it up now. Luckily, he was certain the professor was still oblivious.  
  
Instead, the topic changed, and they found their way to Hapi.  
  


* * *

  
  
Of _course_ they had no idea. Byleth was good at reading people in combat, but it wasn’t always the same for emotions—especially not someone like Yuri’s.  
  
“Pathetic, isn’t it? But I got scared. I got scared that maybe I liked you a little too much. When I have the chance to run away, I don’t take it unless I have to. But that’s...that’s the one time I did. I’ve had so many things to regret in my life, but that—that was one of the absolute worst.”  
  
There’s a pause. Byleth is still processing his story. Didn’t that mean he—  
  
“Byleth.”  
  
_Oh._ It’s the first time he’s said their name. ...They liked how it sounded on his tongue.  
  
“That night, I wanted to hold you, just like this. I wanted to take you to the Goddess Tower, and dance with you, far away from the festivities. It seems I’ve gotten my wish.”  
  
He chuckles before adding, “I wish I told the Goddess that I didn’t mean far away in the _future._ ”  
  
It was rare that Byleth smiled, even rarer that they laughed. But at this moment...they can’t help but do both.  
  
Yuri’s eyes widen for a moment, and there’s a pause before his expression melts. He moves his hand from Byleth’s own to cup their cheek instead. “I’m in love with you, friend. I have been for a very long time.”  
  
“Yuri,” Byleth begins, “I love you, as well. And...I have for a while, too.”  
  
_Since when?_ Is the question they can see he wants to ask, but instead, tears prick at his eyes, and the words die on his tongue.  
  
“Those five years waiting for you paid off, huh?”  
  
Then he kisses them softly, and Byleth allows their eyes to flutter close.  
  
It’s everything to them, in this moment, as they kiss him back. Then, as he pulls away to gaze into their eyes...the sun rises.  
  
“Well, would you look at that? It’s the dawn of a new day. ...And hopefully, a new dawn for Fódlan.”  
  
With a gentle kiss to their forehead, Yuri lets them go entirely, holding their hand as they gazed at the marvel outside. “Let’s go win this war, yeah?”


End file.
